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FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS: 


THEIR CAUSES, AND MEANS OF PREVENTION 
AND EXTINCTION. 


By JOHN L. HAYES. 


From the Bulletin of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. 





























FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS: 


THEIR 

CAUSES, AND MEANS OF PREVENTION 

AND EXTINCTION. 

& 

/ 

By JOHN L. HAYES. 

*/ 


From the Bulletin of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. 




CAMBRIDGE: 

PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. 







FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


No event in my boyhood, passed in the village of South Ber¬ 
wick, near the Salmon Falls River, on the borders of Maine 
and New Hampshire, at a time when the lumber and wood 
trade, which supported the towns at the head of the river Piscat- 
aqua, had begun to decline, so much excited our quiet neigh¬ 
borhood as the establishment, in the year 1822 , of a woollen 
factory at Salmon Falls, about a mile distant from my father’s 
house. Nothing more ambitious in the manufacturing line 
than an old-fashioned fulling-mill had then been seen in that 
now flourishing centre of textile industry. The mill, a brick 
structure, some hundred feet in length and four or five stories 
high, with its dam so level at its rim that its vibrations under 
the falling water were perceived in all our houses; with its 
great breast-wheel, its strange machinery, its foreign workmen,— 
then a rare sight; and its throng of handsome and healthy girls 
from their country homes, — was to me a source of perpetual 
interest. I saw a smiling village grow up around this new cen¬ 
tre of industry, happy in the administration of an agent of 
benevolence and rare culture. The stimulus of the new indus¬ 
try was felt for miles around, in increased prices of labor and 
better markets for agricultural products. We, especially, felt this 
stimulus at my father’s farm, while caring for the beautiful flock 
of Saxony sheep, the first introduced into the State of Maine, 
which my father — as good a farmer, if I may be allowed to say 
it, as he was lawyer and judge — had directly imported from 



6 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


four o’clock in the morning, this dust was found on fire from 
spontaneous combustion. These bobbins , when new , had been 
soaked in linseed oil . 

A fire occurred in the yarn-room of the Pemberton Cotton 
and Woollen Mill, Lawrence, Mass., June 28, 1866. It was 
attributed to spontaneous combustion in black and brown wool¬ 
len yarns lying in bins. A small quantity of oil is used in 
scouring such yarns, and it is supposed that the fire may have 
been due to the presence of that oil. The loss was about 
$17,000. 

Yantic Woollen Mill, Connecticut, Oct. 4, 1866. Fire in 
picker, with a loss of about six hundred dollars, caused by a 
workman’s attempting to clean a waste picker while in action, 
with a piece of iron wire, which was run through the feed-rolls 
and became heated to such a degree as to ignite the waste. 

Dales Mill, Clappville, Mass., Jan. 4, 1867. Fire inside 
a wool-picker, from spontaneous combustion. The waste was 
removed on the night of the third, as usual, and nothing was 
observed wrong until about 9 a.m., at which time the picker 
had not been started. A boy, seeing smoke issue from the ma¬ 
chine, threw on a pail of water, and extinguished the fire. 
This fire supposed to be caused by spontaneous combustion of 
waste left on the bars or under the machine. 

Hartford Carpet Company’s Mills, Tariffville, Conn. This 
fire, which destroyed some eight or ten manufacturing buildings 
and as many dwellings, originated in a wool-picker, not in a 
detached building. The fire, aided by a brisk breeze, spread 
from mill to mill, by the cornices at the eaves, all of which were 
of wood, and hollow. All the roofs were covered with tin, which 
did not prevent the firing of the boards beneath. Every iron 
door and shutter in the several buildings proved unreliable; 
while a wooden door covered with tin, resisted the fire, and pre¬ 
served a building abutting against one which was destroyed. 

Howland’s Woollen Mill, East Greenwich, R.I., Dec. 25, 
1868. Fire was discovered by the watchman in the cardin & 
room, at about 12.45 a.m. The fire, at the time of the dis¬ 
covery, was too far advanced to be extinguished by any ordinary 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


7 


apparatus. It was attributed to spontaneous combustion , and 
resulted in the destruction of the main building and contents, 
and damage to the wing by falling walls. About one-third of 
the property was preserved by the force-pump. Damage 
$58,000. 

Two cases obtained from Mr. Whiting’s notes, presenting cir¬ 
cumstances very similar, suggest a source of combustion not 
hitherto suspected. The first occurred at the Burlington Woollen 
Mills, Dec. 9, 1866. Fire was discovered by the watchman 
in the wool drying loft of the dye-house about 5 a.m. It 
appears, from careful inquiries made on the spot, that the 
watchman had, a few minutes previous to the time mentioned 
above, gone through this room, and had turned the key of the 
Buerk watch, used to record his movements, which was hung at 
the farther end of the room, thus indicating the exact time he 
was there. At this time, all was as usual. The wool on the 
wool-frames being dry, he turned off the steam. He had en¬ 
tered the room, which was dark, with his lantern . Leaving this 
room, he went to another building, made his round there, and 
on going outside he smelt something burning. Proceeding tow¬ 
ards the dye-house building, containing the drying room, he 
saw smoke issuing. Upon going inside and opening the door 
to the wool-drying room, he found it dark, but full of smoke. 
As soon as air was admitted through the opened door, the fire 
flashed all over the room at once, the whole room being illumi¬ 
nated as by flashes of lightning. 

The other case referred to, was at the Washington Mills, 
in Lawrence, Mass., Oct. 27, 1868. Fire was discovered at 
about 5.30 a.m. in a room used, also, for a drying room; the 
wool being on racks, and the room being heated by steam- 
pipes, and waste heat from boilers underneath. The watchman, 
according to his story, had passed through the drying room only 
some four or five minutes before the fire was discovered. In 
this case, also, the drying room was dark, and the watchman 
had entered it with his lantern. While passing through the 
room, he neither saw nor smelt any thing unusual. After leav¬ 
ing the drying room he was resting in a room beyond. It was 


8 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


necessary that he should return through the drying room. Upon 
attempting this, he found the drying room, which is about eighty 
by fifty feet in extent, full of fire, so that return by this way 
was impossible, and he escaped in a miraculous manner through 
a window. The loss in this fire was very heavy, from the super¬ 
ficial singeing of spool yarns in an adjoining room which the 
fire reached. This combustion was at first attributed to the 
spontaneous ignition of oily waste, which # it was supposed might 
have been accidentally left among the washed wool exposed to 
dry : a cause quite inconsistent with the unusual cleanliness and 
care prevalent at this mill. 

But the experienced officers of the insurance company, from 
whom I have the facts above stated, regard the circumstances 
occurring in these two cases — both fires taking place in heated 
wool drying rooms, the rapid flashing up of the fires, their break¬ 
ing out shortly after being entered with a light — as indicating 
the production of some highly combustible gas from the drying 
of wool at high temperature. There are not sufficient facts to 
establish such a theory beyond question. It is by no means 
impossible that inflammable gases might be produced from the 
hydrocarbons of oily wools exposed to a high temperature. 
If petroleum oils had been used upon the wool, which would 
have been highly improper, and therefore hardly possible, the 
explanation would be obvious ; as, with the common oils of this 
kind, inflammable gases are produced at an ordinary summer 
temperature. The subject is one worthy of thorough scientific 
investigation. 

Whatever may be the theory of the ignition, these cases sug¬ 
gest the precaution of thoroughly ventilating the drying rooms, 
which will assist materially the evaporation; and that the 
watchman should enter such rooms only with a Davy safety 
lamp, or, better still, with no lantern at all. 

The records of the insurance company, above referred to, 
show three cases of direct ignition in drying by steam-pipes. 
A fire took place at the Androscoggin Mills, April, 1863, from 
damp and oily overalls being hung to dry over steam-pipes. 

At the Pacific Mills, April 15, 1864, a fire occurred in the 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


9 


wool-sorting room, with a loss of $30,000, which was attributed 
to placing fleeces, to warm for opening, over steam-pipes. 

At the Yantic Mills, Feb. 27, 1869, fire was caused by 
fleeces left on steam-pipes to warm over night. 

These cases make the rule indispensable that nothing of a 
combustible character should be left on steam-pipes in a mill 
over night, and that they should be brushed off every day. 

Mr. Gould, President of The Manufacturers’ Insurance Com¬ 
pany of Boston, relates this case. In the wool-drying room, at 
the mill of Mr. Eddy, in Fall River, heated by steam-pipes, a 
pine board was placed by Mr. Eddy, well known to be distin¬ 
guished for his care and attention to all details in his manu¬ 
facturing operations, about three or four inches above the pipes, 
to prevent the contact of the wool with the pipes, and to obviate 
such accidents as have been before described. The wool in the 
drying room was ignited, occasioning a loss of about three thou¬ 
sand dollars. Mr. Eddy, at first, could not account for the 
origin of the fire ; but upon examination found that there were 
several pitchy knots in the board, placed over the pipes, and 
became satisfied that turpentine distilling from these knots, and 
falling upon the pipes, had produced the combustion. 

A similar case was communicated to me by the celebrated 
chemist, Dr. Charles T. Jackson,* of Boston, who had the facts 
in a letter from Mr. Atherton, of Amherst, N.H. An iron pipe 
containing steam not under pressure, packed in shavings, passed 
overhead in a saw-mill. The shavings took fire from the steam- 
pipe, and the mill was destroyed. The cause, as stated by Dr. 
Jackson, was that the turpentine in the shavings distilled by the 
hot pipes attracted the oxygen from the air, thus producing 
spontaneous ignition. According to Mr. Whiting, at the Lons¬ 
dale Mill, in Rhode Island, a box containing pine sawdust was 
placed around a pipe conveying steam from one mill to another, 
for the purpose of preventing condensation of the steam; the 
agent of the mill stated that the box was on fire a great number 


* Universally recognized in Europe, and generally by tbe scientific men of this 
country, as the discoverer of etherization. 



10 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


of times, undoubtedly from spontaneous ignition, as in the cases 
stated above. 

As it is my object to cite only enough cases of fires in wool¬ 
len mills to illustrate the most usual sources of combustion, I 
will close these illustrations by an abstract of the cases recorded 
in a single year at Philadelphia, by the chief-engineer of the fire 
department of that city. The cases are taken from the report 
for the year ending March 31, 1868. 

Fire at dry-house in woollen mill at Manayunk; cause, carelessness. 
Fire at woollen mill, J. B. Scatcherd, proprietor; cause, spontaneous 
combustion. Loss, $17,800. 

Fire at dye-house of woollen mill; cause, from heat of pipes. Loss, 

$ 2 , 000 . 

Fire at Manayunk, in picker house of woollen mill; cause, from 
picker. 

Fire at Manayunk, in drying house of mill; supposed cause, from 
lightning. Loss, $1,000. 

Fire at dry-house of Campbell & Co/s mill, at Manayunk; cause, 
accidental. 

Fire at woollen mill in Germantown ; cause, spontaneous combustion. 
Fire in Amber Street; cause, waste in mill, spontaneous combustion. 
Loss trifling. 

Fire at IJosiery Mill of H. Becker & Co.; cause, spontaneous com¬ 
bustion. Loss, $5,760. 

Fire at Manayunk; cause, waste in mill, spontaneous combustion. 
Loss trifling. 

Fire at Shoddy Factory at Manayunk; cause, supposed from picker. 
Loss, $39,000. 

Fire in picker room of Shoddy Mill; cause, from picker. Loss, 
$1,600. 

The occurrence of twelve fires in woollen mills, during one 
year in a single city, appears startling at first. But it must be 
considered that the mills in that district are very numerous and 
generally very small, and that such mills have not that careful 
administration and those preventive appliances found in what the 
insurance offices call " first-class mills.” 

It is proper that we should dwell at length upon the subject 
of spontaneous combustion, or, more properly speaking, spon- 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


11 


taneous ignition , although the subject is familiar enough to older 
manufacturers. Spontaneous ignition is found to occur in oily 
cotton waste, or raw cotton, which has been used to clean 
machinery, in oily woollen waste, in oily rags, soaked in linseed 
oil, which have been used for rubbing wood or furniture. The 
siccative, or drying oils, are found to be the most promotive of 
such ignition,—in piles of scraps from oil-cloths; in piles of 
oiled clothing, where linseed oil has been used ; in oily sawdust; 
in greasy rags from butter; in piles of tape measures covered 
with oily varnish ; in lampblack, which is peculiarly subject to 
spontaneous ignition; in pieces and piles of charcoal; in certain 
mineral coals ; in moist hay, &c. The circumstances which favor 
spontaneous ignition are the accumulation or piling up of such 
materials, the admission of exterior heat, as from exposure to 
the sun’s rays or to hot-air pipes, and the application of moist¬ 
ure. I will cite some cases illustrative of the general subject of 
spontaneous ignition, which are instructive, although having only 
an incidental bearing upon the causes of fires in woollen mills. 

CASES OF SPONTANEOUS IGNITION. 

The combustion of oily wool waste is familiar to all older 
manufacturers : that the cases do not more frequently come under 
the eyes of manufacturers is due to the precautions now generally 
in use. Mr. Kingsbury, of Hartford, has informed me of two 
cases which came under his observation where spontaneous 
ignition had taken place in barrels of oily waste left accidentally 
in woollen mills. In both cases, the fires were extinguished 
without damage. Mr. Gould related to me this circumstance : 
Some years since a large quantity of what was called clean wool¬ 
len waste, used in the manufacture of coarse satinets, had been 
brought from a woollen mill, and stored in a wool-house in 
Pearl Street, Boston. The insurance companies having been 
informed of the fact, notified the party storing the waste to 
remove it, on pain of forfeiture of his insurance. Objection 
having been made to the fastidiousness of the insurance offices, 
Mr. Gould himself piled up portions of this waste in a yard at 


12 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


the rear of his office in State Street. The waste was found to 
be very oily on handling. The pile was exposed in a damp warm 
day in August. In less than twenty-four hours the pile took 
fire spontaneously. The following cases are cited in an article 
upon Spontaneous Combustion in Silliman’s " Journal of Sci¬ 
ence,” by Dr. James Mease : "A quantity of wool prepared with 
the usual proportion of oil for carding, and thrown into a heap 
in the evening, was found the next morning ignited, and the 
floor, to a considerable extent, on fire. This happened at Hamlin 
& Bates’s factory, and another instance occurred at the establish¬ 
ment of Warner & Whitton, both at Plainfield, Mass. Lamp- 
oil was used.” 

Mr. Badderley, in his report on the fires of London for 1853, 
says, " The most remarkable case of spontaneous ignition that 
has occurred for some time, occurred at the residence of Mr. 
Fletcher at the Library of the Philosophical Society in George 
Street, Manchester, who, on entering his room one afternoon, 
found the sofa on fire. Having dragged it into the yard, and 
extinguished the fire that was burning in the interior, he found, 
on examination, that the sofa had been filled with cap bottoms 
and rovings, woollen materials, which being greasy had spon¬ 
taneously ignited.” * 

The cases of spontaneous ignition of wool, cotton bags, or 
clothing, soaked in linseed oil, and of piles of oil-cloth, are well 
authenticated. The following cases are also cited by Dr. Mease : 
" The schooner ' Hiram,’ laden with wool, when on a voyage from 
Bilboa to New York, in March, 1825, in consequence of some 
linseed oil having been spilt upon the cabin floor. Two pounds 
of wool greased with flax-seed oil, near Germantown, set fire to 
the building the next morning.” 

According to Mr. .Gould, my informant, a workman who had 
been polishing a door of a house in Boston with linseed oil, at 
the end of his day’s work requested that his oily woollen over¬ 
clothes might be left in the cellar, which was assented to. At half¬ 
past eleven at night, the occupants of the house were awakened 


* London Mechanics’ Magazine, vol. 60, p. 174. 



FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


13 


by the smell of burning woollens. Upon making search from 
the attic to the cellar, the door of the latter was opened, and a 
flame started by the admission of the air showed the com¬ 
bustion in the oiled clothes of the workman. A fire took 
place at the house of Mrs. Colburn, a neighbor of mine, at 
Cambridge, Mass., from spontaneous ignition of woollen rags 
saturated with linseed oil, which had been used in cleaning 
furniture. Dr. Jackson relates a case where a fire occurred in 
a house newly furnished, from spontaneous ignition in a pile of 
chips of oil carpeting. The proprietor, from excessive caution, 
slept in the house before it was occupied by his family, and for¬ 
tunately discovered the fire and ascertained its cause. Upon 
stating the case to Dr. Jackson, he says, "My floors are 
covered with oil-carpet chips ; why do they not take fire ? ” 
" Because,” says the chemist, " the chips not being in contact, 
the heat is conducted away. In a pile, they accumulate the heat 
originally induced from the drying oil in the chips attracting 
the oxygen of the air. Can you set fire to anthracite coal spread 
upon the floor ? No : but pile up the lumps so that the heat may 
accumulate, and they are readily ignited.” 

Mr. Badderley, in one of his annual reports on the fires in 
London, deems it necessary to urge a special warning of the 
danger of conflagration from the cause above indicated. He 
says, "Persons dealing in oil, linseed oil especially, cannot be 
too careful in preventing contact of oil with sawdust, cotton 
waste, hemp, canvas, &c., as such unions form the elements 
highly favorable to spontaneous ignition.” The celebrated Mr. 
Braid wood, for nearly thirty years superintendent of the London 
Fire Brigade, says, "Sawdust, in contact with vegetable oil, is 
very likely to take fire. Cotton, cotton waste, hemp,* and most 
other vegetable substances, are alike dangerous. In one case, 
oil and sawdust took fire within sixteen hours; in others, the 
same materials have lain for years, until some external heat has 
been applied.” He observes that spontaneous ignition is gen- 

* The great fire at Cotton’s Wharf, Tooley Street, London, in which Mr. Braidwood 
lost his life, is believed to have originated in the spontaneous combustion of hemp. 
Mr. Braidwood was kil’ed by a falling wall, while venturing into a burning warehouse 




14 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


erally accelerated by natural or artificial heat. "For instance, 
where substances are exposed to the heat of the sun, to furnace 
flues, heated pipes, or are placed over apartments lighted by 
gas, the process of ignition proceeds much more rapidly than 
when in a cooler atmosphere.” Mr. Braidwood also observes : 
" The greater number of the serious fires which have taken 
place in the railroad stations in and near London have com¬ 
menced in paint stores. In a very large fire in an oil ware¬ 
house, a quantity of oil was spilt the day before, and wiped 
up, the wipings being thrown aside. This was believed to have 
been the cause of the fire, but direct information could not be 
obtained.” He observes further, that "while spontaneous igni¬ 
tion is believed to be a very fruitful cause of fires, unless the fire 


to encourage his men exhausted by the extreme heat. This act of heroism, — only one 
of the many which shed lustre upon his name, — and the unobtrusive virtues of his 
private life, are commemorated by Miss Muloch, in words of such touching beauty, 
that I cannot resist transcribing them: — 

A TRUE HERO. 

James Braidwood, —Died June 22, 1861. 

By the Author of 


Not at the battle front, — 

Writ of in story; 

Not on the blazing wreck, 

Steering to glory; 

Not while in martyr-pangs 
Soul and flesh sever, — 

Died he, this Hero new, — 

Hero for ever. 

No pomp poetic crowned, 

No forms enchained him, 

No friends, applauding, watched, 
No foes arraigned him: 

Death found him there, without 
Grandeur or beauty, — 

Only an honest man 
Doing his duty: 

Just a God-fearing man, 

Simple and lowly, 

Constant at kirk and hearth, 

Kindly and lowly ; — 

Death found, and touched him with 
Finger in flying; 


John Halifax, Gentleman." 

So he rose up complete,— 

Hero undying. 

Now all mourn for him, 
Lovingly raise him 

Up from his life obscure, 
Chronicle, praise him; 

Tell his last act, done ’midst 
Peril appalling, 

And the last words of cheer 
From his lips falling; 

Follow in multitudes 
To his grave’s portal; 

Leave him there buried, 

In honor immortal. 

So many a Hero walks 
Daily beside us, 

Till comes the Supreme stroke 
Sent to divide us. 

Then the Lord calls his own, — 
Like this man, even, 

Carried, Elijah-like, 

Fire-winged, to heaven. 

Macmillan’s Magazine , vol. iv. p. 294. 



FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


15 


is discovered almost at the commencement, it is difficult to ascer¬ 
tain positively that this is the cause.” 

The writer of an article on Fires in the " London Quarterly,” 
pursuing the same idea, remarks : " The cause of most fires 
which have arisen from spontaneous combustion is lost in the 
consequence. Cases now and then occur when the firemen 
have been able to detect it.” The writer cites this case, which 
occurred at a warehouse on Hibernia Wharf in London, in 1846, 
which illustrates that danger is to be apprehended from contact 
of olive oil as well as linseed oil with carbonaceous substances. 
"It happened that a porter had swept his sawdust from the 
floor into a heap upon which a broken flask of olive oil, that 
was placed above, had dropped its contents. To these elements 
of combustion the sun added its power, and sixteen hours after¬ 
wards the fire broke out. Happily, it was instantly extin¬ 
guished, and the agents that produced it were caught red 
handed in the act.” * 

' The danger of spontaneous ignition in piles of charcoal dust 
is not generally apprehended. The liability of piles of fine 
charcoal to ignite has long been known to manufacturers of 
gunpowder. Mr. Hadfield, in a paper containing " Observa¬ 
tions on the circumstances producing ignition in charcoal in 
atmospheric temperatures,” published in the " Philosophical 
Magazine,” states generally, "if twenty or thirty hundred of 
charcoal, in a state of minute division, be put together in a heap, 
and left undisturbed, spontaneous combustion generally occurs.” 
He states the results of a series of experiments tried by him. 
The following experiment was the most remarkable : " On the 
13th of October, 1831, small charcoal was thrown into a heap 
which covered about ten feet square, was about four feet deep, 
and contained two or three tons in weight. In three days, the 
temperature had increased to 90°, though it was at first only 
57°, that of the air. On the 19th, it was 150°, and on the 
20th combustion had occurred in several places.” He observes, 
"This experiment was the most satisfactory one which had 


* London Quarterly Review, 1855. Vol. xcvi., p. 1. 




16 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


come under my notice. The charcoal had been made at least 
ten or twelve days before it was put together, and had been 
lying during the interval in small heaps freely exposed in the 
open air.” * 

I have obtained the following remarkable and instructive 
examples from Dr. C. T. Jackson. They were originally com¬ 
municated to the American Academy. At the request of sev¬ 
eral insurance officers, who regarded the facts as very important, 
they were published in the Boston papers substantially as here 
stated. 

" Three times,” says Dr. Jackson, " I have set fire to char¬ 
coal at temperatures below that of boiling water. My first 
experiment or observation was accidental. I was preparing, 
while at Bangor, Me., for a lecture, in which I had occasion to 
show an artificial volcano. I took a tray filled with gunpowder 
and laid it on a stove to dL'y. I then took a paper of pulverized 
charcoal, such as is sold by the apothecaries for tooth-powder, 
the charcoal being wrapped in white paper, and placed it on the 
top of the gunpowder which was being dried upon the stove. 
Having occasion to go out, I took off the paper of charcoal and 
laid it on the table. When I came back, in about twenty 
minutes, I observed the paper smoking. The charcoal was 
completely consumed. During all this time, the gunpowder 
remained on the stove unexploded. 

" My next observation was this : While at work in my labo¬ 
ratory, I had occasion to use a piece of charcoal for blow-pipe 
experiments. I went down into my cellar, and brought up a 
piece of light, fine, round charcoal, suited for that purpose. It 
was damp. I laid it on the top of a column stove to dry, directly 
beside a tin pan containing water, which was not boiling, and never 
did boil there. I took the charcoal off the stove and laid it on my 
table. A short time afterwards I discovered that it was on fire 
all through the piece. I laid it aside, and it burned entirely to 
ashes. The theory of the ignition of the charcoal under these 
circumstances struck me at once. Charcoal has wonderful 


* Philosophical Magazine, 1833. 3d Series. Yol. iii., p. 1. 



FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


17 


porosity : it has the power of analyzing air, and absorbing the 
oxygen with comparatively little of its nitrogen. The pores of 
the charcoal were previously filled with moisture. Drying ex¬ 
pelled this moisture. The oxygen of the air was condensed in 
the charcoal, taking the place of the moisture. The conden¬ 
sation of the oxygen produced sufficient heat to ignite the char¬ 
coal. I repeated this experiment again intentionally, watching 
it carefully, and with the same result.” The instructive bear¬ 
ing of these facts will be shown hereafter, in connection with the 
subject of heating with steam-pipes. 

Some idea of the important part which spontaneous ignition 
plays, as a source of conflagrations, may be formed from study¬ 
ing the fire statistics of the great cities. Upon examining the 
annual reports of Mr. Badderley on the fires of London for 
many years, I find that the cases of spontaneous combustion in 
London, enumerated for a series of years, as follows : — 


In 1860, 30 cases of spontaneous combustion. 


In 1859, 28 
In 1857, 24 
In 1856, 19 
In 1855, 19 
In 1854, 19 


The cases in each year are remarkably similar. The table 
for 1859 is a fair example of all. 


Spontaneous ignition of charcoal. 

. 1 

?? 

55 

„ cotton waste. 

. 3 

55 

55 

,, felt tarred. 

. 1 

55 

55 

,, greasy rubbish .... 

. 4 

55 

55 

„ wet hemp ropes and mats 

. 2 

55 

55 

,, lampblack. 

. 7 

55 

55 

„ phosphorus. 

. 1 

55 

55 

„ wet rags. 

. 7 

55 

55 

„ sulphur and saltpetre . . 

. 2 


The reports of the Fire Department of the city of Boston, in 
later years, show the following cases. It is to be regretted that 

3 








18 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


the specific causes of the spontaneous combustion are not stated 
in all cases. 


1850. 


1852. 


1853. 


1854. 


Spontaneous combustion of lampblack. 

>? ?> 55 »» 

„ ,, material not mentioned. 


Loss, $10,994 
Loss, 


Combustion of cotton waste. 

Spontaneous combustion, materials not mentioned. 

55 55 55 55 55 

Ship Affghan, spontaneous combustion. 

55 55 

Combustion of cotton waste. 

55 55 wool. 

,, ,, lampblack. 

Supposed spontaneous combustion. 

Spontaneous combustion of cotton waste. 

„ „ „ cotton batting. 

„ . „ ,, old candle-wicks. 

„ „ in barrel of rubbish. 

„ 55 of bags. 

Spontaneous combustion. 


55 55 

1855. Spontaneous combustion. 

Supposed spontaneous. 

Spontaneous combustion, cotton. 

1856. Spontaneous combustion, two cases. 

1857. None. 

1858. Spontaneous combustion of cotton waste. 


1859-60. 


55 55 

„ „ Loss, $10,000. 

Spontaneous combustion of cotton waste thrown from 
upper story. 

Spontaneous combustion from oil in store. 


The theory of spontaneous ignition has already been intimated 
in the observations of Dr. Jackson upon the burning of char- 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


19 


coal. The spontaneous ignition of oily waste and of charcoal 
proceeds from the same cause, — the absorption and condensa¬ 
tion of oxygen. We observe that the contact of vegetable or 
drying oils with porous carbonaceous substances is most promo¬ 
tive of spontaneous ignition. The drying qualities of these oils, 
which fit them for paints, is due to their absorbing oxygen 
from the atmosphere. The porous oily materials absorb and 
condense the air within their pores. Oxidation then commences 
immediately, and raises the temperature, which again acceler¬ 
ates the oxidation; and the process goes on, with continually 
increasing rapidity, till at length the mass bursts into a flame. 
The low-conducting power of such a porous mass greatly facili¬ 
tates the combustion by preventing the dissipation of the heat 
generated. The massing of the materials in piles, boxes, or 
barrels promotes the retention and accumulation of the heat, at 
first excited by oxidation. Moisture also promotes combustion 
by supplying oxygen. Besides, it has been recently shown that 
the simple act of moistening such substances as cotton, hair, 
and wool, is attended with a slight though constant disengage¬ 
ment of heat.* It should be observed, that the paraffine oils, 
or the hydrocarbon oils from petroleum, do not absorb oxygen. 
Dr. Hoffman, the President of the London Chemical Society, 
warmly recommends their use for lubricating machinery; say¬ 
ing, that "they are safer than many of the oils previously used, 
inasmuch as they do not absorb oxygen, and consequently can¬ 
not undergo spontaneous combustion when smeared upon cotton- 
waste.” f 

The comparatively small number of cases enumerated above, 
out of the many which actually have occurred, show a loss in 
conflagrations from spontaneous ignition and from exposure 
of materials at temperatures below that which is ordinarily sup¬ 
posed to be necessary for ignition, of over $100,000. 

I have collected these cases partly to show the specific cir¬ 
cumstances under which spontaneous ignition occurs, and partly 


* Pouillet, Ann. de Chimie. 

f Report of Jurors, International Exhibition, p 130. 



20 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


that, by grouping them together, due impression might be made 
upon practical manufacturers of the danger from this cause; 
partly to induce greater caution on the part of managers of 
mills, and partly that they might have these facts together 
to lay before their overseers and workmen, who are often 
stubborn and incredulous as to facts which have not come 
within their limited observation. Managers and workmen 
should know that spontaneous ignition is not an accidental 
and exceptional phenomenon. With the proper conditions, 
it is as certain as the firing of gunpowder with a spark. The 
cask of gunpowder, so instinctively dreaded, will not explode 
till the spark is applied. The pile of oily waste, harmless 
and innocent to all appearance, slowly but surely takes from 
the oxygen of the air the means for its own combustion ; itself 
lighting the conflagration which, most frequently, bursts forth 
when manager and operatives are locked in slumber. It need 
not be said, that the apprehension of danger is its most certain 
preventive. The explosion of magazines in ships of war rarely 
takes place, because the danger is constantly foreseen. While 
resident for two years at a charcoal blast-furnace, of which I 
was manager and part owner, I have seen open charcoal-sheds 
containing several thousand bushels of this combustible, — veri¬ 
table tinder-boxes, — and several thousand cords of dry wood, 
constantly exposed to streams of sparks from the furnace- 
chimney, to open fires of roasting ore burning by night, — 
torch and combustible, almost in constant contact, — and all 
without danger; simply because of the perpetual consciousness 
of danger, and a watch by night as well as day secured effect¬ 
ual means for prevention and extinction of conflagration. 

While I have deemed it necessary to dwell upon the danger 
from spontaneous ignition in woollen mills, in order to enforce 
the necessity of using the precautions which are very simple and 
obvious, I would guard against the deduction which might be 
drawn from a hasty consideration of the mass of facts above 
presented, that the risks in woollen mills from spontaneous 
combustion are so great as to demand high rates of fire-insur¬ 
ance in comparison with other descriptions of property. At the 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


21 


risk of appearing to neutralize the effect of the statements pre¬ 
viously made, it is proper that I should remark that the cases of 
spontaneous combustion figure comparatively low in the statistics 
of the causes of general conflagrations. The writer in the 
"London Quarterly,” before quoted, analyzes the causes of fires 
in London from Mr. Braidwood’s reports, for a period not men¬ 
tioned. 

I subjoin a portion of his table, giving the numbers of cases 
from several causes : — 


Curtains.2,511 

Candles.1,178 

Flues. 1,558 

Stoves. 494 

Gas. 932 

Spontaneous combustion. 43 


Each description of insurable property has its characteristic 
dangers. Oily waste is not more to be guarded against in 
woollen mills than curtains in dwelling-houses, and pickers in 
cotton mills. Of twenty fires enumerated by the Boston Manu¬ 
facturers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Company, in 1867, of both 
woollen and cotton mills, twelve were in cotton-picker rooms, 
— strictly picker fires, — and four were from spontaneous com¬ 
bustion. The rates of insurance, as fixed by the stock-companies, 
are one per cent upon first-class cotton mills, and 1.25 per cent 
upon first-class woollen mills. The owners of the latter — 
very justly, as it would seem — complain of this distinction. 
It is doubtless due to the traditionary prejudice against woollen 
mills, founded upon the character of the woollen mills of former 
years, which were too often deficient in cleanliness and care, 
and other proper precautions against fire, — a charge which 
cannot be generally made against modern mills. The impro¬ 
priety of this distinction between the best mills of wool and 
cotton is well established by the practice of the mutual insur¬ 
ance companies, which make a distinction of but one-tenth of 
one per cent in favor of cotton mills; the rates upon first-class 








22 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


cotton mills averaging nine-tenths of one per cent, and upon 
first-class woollen mills one per cent.* 


PICKER FIRES. 

To. resume our inquiries into the causes of fires, we will now 
consider the picker room in woollen mills as a source of confla¬ 
grations. Fires do not occur in the picker rooms of woollen 
mills so often as in those of cotton mills. One reason is that 
the first preparation of the cotton is made in the picker room, 
containing the willow opener, and foreign substances, such as 
matches or iron or stones, are brought in contact with the mov¬ 
ing machinery and the highly combustible material of cotton; 
while all foreign substances have been previously removed in 
the sorting of the wool, which in itself, although liable to be 
scorched and singed, is not highly inflammable. But where 
wool is previously oiled at the picker, as was formerly the gen¬ 
eral practice, and considerable masses of oiled wool are suf¬ 
fered to remain in the picker room, the wool, machinery, and 


* I am indebted to Mr. E. H. Sprague, secretary of the company below named, for 
the following statement. It is but just to say that the experience of other companies 
might not show results so favorable to woollen mills. 

Woollen Risks , insured by the Arkwright Mutual Fire Insurance Company , from com¬ 
mencement ( Oct. 1 , 1860) to Nov. 1 , 1868, and Premiums received and Losses paid. 


From Oct. 1, 1860, to 
„ Nov. 1, 1861, „ 

„ „ 1, 1862, „ 

„ „ 1, 1863, „ 

,, ,, 1, 1864, ,, 

,, ,, 1, 1865, „ 

„ „ 1, 1866, „ 

,, ,, 1 , 186/, ,, 




Amounts 


Losses. 

Per cent of 



Insured. 



Premium. 

Nov. 

1, 1861 

$461,000 

$4,295.91 

$274.38 

6.41 


1, 1862 

392,000 

3,916.45 

Nothing. 



1, 1863 

526,107 

5,242.S4 

950.71 

18.13 


1, 1864 

624,085 

6,055.89 

428.76 

7.08 


1, 1865 

857,181 

8,323.73 

180.20 

2.16 


1, 1866 

988,094 

9,104.43 

44.54 

.49 

77 

1, 1867 

1,468,682 

14,157.84 

3,305.00 

22.85 

?7 

1, 1868 

1,576,302 

15,252.95 

10,621.96 

69.63 


$6,893,451 

$66,649.64 

$15,805.45 



Per cent of loss for the whole time upon amount of premiums received, 23.71. 

It this statement had been made up to Nov. 1, 1867, the per cent of loss for the 
whole time would have been but 10.08; and if made earlier, still less. 

E. H. Spkague, Secretary. 

July , 12, 1869. 


















FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


23 


wood-work become saturated with oil; and, if a fire does occur, 
it is difficult to extinguish it. For this reason, the best insur¬ 
ance companies do not insure a mill unless the picker is abso¬ 
lutely detached from the main building. Another precaution is 
to have no more stock in the picker room than is absolutely 
necessary. A still further remedy against fires in the picker 
room is the oiling the wool at the card, according to the methods 
described in the April number of the "Bulletin.” This method 
is highly approved by the insurance companies who adopt the 
preventive system, to be hereafter spoken of. The daily over¬ 
hauling of the picker, to see that all waste is removed, is a 
lesson taught by one of the cases of spontaneous ignition before 
described. Greater precautions are required in the use of mod¬ 
ern pickers than in that of the old wool-opener. The modern 
machines have a greater number of teeth, made of steel instead of 
iron, and are moved with greater velocity. Hard waste-pickers, 
which are run with very great velocity, and have the teeth closely 
set together, must be specially watched. A lesson given by 
one experienced manufacturer is, not to employ a boy or the 
cheapest hand at the picker, — as is too often done, — as too 
much cannot be paid for care at this critical position. 

STEAM PIPES AND MISCELLANEOUS CAUSES. 

In considering our general subject, it is necessary that we 
should not limit our observations to woollen mills, as there are 
causes of conflagration common to all mills and all structures, 
which should not be overlooked. Among the most important 
is danger from steam-pipes; the danger being greater because 
the steam or hot-water pipes being introduced as a measure of 
precaution against fires, liability from fire is not apprehended 
from that source. Steam and hot-water pipes are often suf¬ 
fered to remain in contact with wood-work, and frequently 
packed with charcoal or sawdust to prevent radiation. The 
following facts illustrate the danger of these practices : — 

The officers of the insurance companies charged with the 
examination of mills, remark upon the general prevalence of the 


24 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


impression that there is no danger of ignition from steam-pipes. 
An insurance-officer, visiting mills at Exeter, N.H., observed a 
steam-pipe running through a partition, and in contact with the 
wood-work. The agent, although incredulous of danger, prom¬ 
ised to cut out the wood around the pipes. A few days after¬ 
wards, the wood was removed wherever in contact. In the 
course of the examination, timbers in contact with the pipe, at 
a distance of three hundred feet from the boiler, were found to 
have been on fire. The pieces which were shown to me were 
completely charred. My informant stated the following case to 
the agent, who incredulously inquired, "Did you ever know a 
case where steam-pipes set wood on fire ? ” 

"At the Oneco Mills, in Sterling, Conn., there being no 
steam-heating apparatus, a detached tubular boiler was placed 
in a building at some distance from the mill, to supply steam 
for heating and for running a donkey engine to assist the water¬ 
wheel. A steam-pipe two and a half inches in diameter, for 
conveying the steam to the mill, passed through the wall of the 
boiler house, then ran perpendicularly to the ground, and under 
ground into the mill. To prevent condensation of the steam, 
the pipe was enclosed in a tight box of wood, filled with 
powdered charcoal. All worked well for ten days, when a 
fire took place in the horizontal enclosing box, near the boiler 
house, — supposed to be from a spark from the boiler,—then 
in the perpendicular portion of the enclosing box, and finally in 
the part under ground.” The facts before stated, as to the 
ignition of charcoal, show that spontaneous ignition was the 
almost inevitable result of this contact of charcoal with hot-air 
pipes. Where it is desired to prevent radiation from steam 
pipes and boilers, it would be well to adopt the plan recom¬ 
mended by Prof. Tyndal in his lectures on " Heat as a Mode of 
Motion,” who observes that" there are cases where sawdust, chaff, 
or charcoal could not be used with safety (to prevent radiation 
from steam-pipes), on account of their combustible nature. In 
such cases powdered gypsum may be used with advantage. In 
the solid crystalline state, it is incomparably a worse conductor 
than silica, and it may be safely inferred that in the powdered 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


25 


state its imperviousness far transcends that of sand, each grain of 
which is a good conductor. A jacket of gypsum powder around 
a steam boiler would materially lessen its loss of heat.” 

Mr. Braidwood, whose vast experience gives great weight to 
his opinions, earnestly warns against the danger from steam and 
hot-water pipes. He says, " There appears to be some chem¬ 
ical action between heated iron and timber, by which heat is 
generated at a much lower temperature than is necessary to 
ignite timber under ordinary circumstances. No satisfactory 
explanation of this fact has yet been given, but there is abun¬ 
dant proof that such is the case. In heating by hot-water 
pipes, those hermetically sealed are by far the most dangerous, 
as the strength of the pipes to resist the pressure is the only 
limit of the heat to which the water, and of course the pipes, 
may be raised. In some cases a plug of metal which fuses at 
400°, is put into the pipes, but the heat to which the plug is 
exposed will depend very much on where it is placed, as how¬ 
ever great may be the heat of the exit pipe, the return pipe is 
comparatively cool. But even where the pipes are left open 
the heat of the water at the furnace is not necessarily at 212°. 
It is almost needless to say that 212° is the heat of boiling 
water under the pressure of one atmosphere only; but if the 
pipes are carried sixty or seventy feet high, the water in the 
furnace may be under the pressure of nearer three atmospheres, 
and therefore the heat will be proportionately increased. Fires 
from pipes for heating by hot water have been known to take 
place within twenty-four hours after first heating, and some 
after ten years of apparent safety.” * 

Mr. Braidwood, in his testimony before a committee of the 
House of Lords in 1846, stated that it was his belief that by 
long exposure to heat, not much exceeding that of boiling water, 
212°, timber is brought into such a condition that it will fire 
without the application of a light. The time during which this 
process of desiccation goes on, is, he thinks, from eight to ten 
years. The writer in the " London Quarterly,” before quot- 


* Fire Extinction and Fire Prevention. By James Braidwood, p. 44. 
4 



26 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


ed, says that Mercers’ Hall in London, built in 1853, was 
the victim of its hot-water pipes; the wood-work in the vaulted 
rooms of the British Museum, containing the Nineveh marbles, 
was fired in a similar manner, and the new Houses of Parlia¬ 
ment have been on fire several times already from a similar 
cause.* 

The most cautious insurance companies, taking in view the 
absolute danger from steam-pipes, unlesf most carefully fitted, 
and the common belief that there is no danger, which prevents 
the requisite cure, regard the system of heating by steam-pipes as 
ordinarily no safer than heating by anthracite stoves, or by burn¬ 
ing wood in a box-stove well fitted up, as the visible presence 
of the fire induces carefulness. Still the system of heating by 
steam is preferred when the pipes are well fitted, and all contact 
with combustible matter prevented. It is better that the boiler 
should be outside in a building erected for the purpose. When 
the pipes pass through a floor, they should be surrounded with 
an iron plate or flange. The inner rim of the flange should be 
provided with points touching the pipes, so that a constant cur¬ 
rent of air should pass through. 

The danger in heating by horizontal smoke-flues, although 
they are rarely used in mills except for drying purposes, is 
greater than in the use of steam-pipes. As the whole of the 
draft must pass through the fire, these flues, if not properly 
built, are dangerous through their whole course. This is ob¬ 
served in the market greenhouses which formerly were generally 
heated by such flues. The very sensible and popular author of 
" Practical Floriculture and Gardening for Profit,” Mr. Peter 
Henderson, says, "Too great caution cannot be used in keeping 
wood-work away from the flue and chimney at the furnace end; 
and for fifteen feet of the hot end of the flue, wood should never 
be placed nearer than one foot. Ho not listen to what your 
builders may say, as few of them have had experience in such 
matters; and whatever they may pretend, not one in a dozen 
knows more about what is dangerous from a fire than you do 


* London Quarterly Review, 1855, vol. 96. p. 1. 



FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


27 


yourself.” After mentioning several instances to show the neces- 
sity of the utmost caution in the use of this mode of heating, he 
remarks that, " Every winter there are hundreds of fires orig¬ 
inating in greenhouses by the wood-work taking fire from 
flues.”* 

Although gas, if carefully laid on and properly used, is safer 
than any other light, it is important that much care should be 
exercised in the location of the jets. Gas-burners are danger¬ 
ous when placed near a ceiling. Mr. Braid wood mentions an 
instance where a gas-light set fire to a ceiling twenty-eight and 
one-half inches from it. The papers, as I am informed, have 
recently published a statement of a similar instance which oc¬ 
curred at Pittsfield, Mass. Mr. Eyre M. Shaw, superintend¬ 
ent of the London fire-department, in 1862, and the successor 
of Mr. Braid wood, lays down the rule that "jets or movable gas 
brackets should never be less than thirty-six inches from the 
ceiling over it. They should be protected on top by hanging 
shades, and on the sides by stops on the several joints, which 
should prevent brackets from moving more than a safe distance.” 
" Attention,” he says, " should be called to the very common and 
dangerous practice of nailing tin or iron on adjoining timbers. 
This has long proved to be no protection, and it has the disad¬ 
vantage of allowing the timber to be charred completely through 
before it is known.”f Fires often proceed from carelessness in 
lighting gas. Mr. Braidwood relates that, some years ago, up¬ 
wards of £100,000 were lost through the partner of a large 
establishment in England lighting gas with a piece of paper, 
which he threw away, and thus set fire to the premises, although 
it was a strict rule in the place that gas should only be lighted 
with tapers, which were provided for that purpose. 

It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the more obvious causes 
of fire common to all structures, such as carelessness in the 
use of matches, and the dropping of fire from unextinguished 
tobacco, — the latter a constantly occurring source of conflagra- 


* Practical Floriculture, p. 63. 
t London Mechanics’ Magazine, Jan. 17, 1862. 



28 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


tions, figuring largely in the causes of fires in London; the 
ratio of fires for a series of years from this cause, as compared 
with those from spontaneous combustion, being as 166 to 43. 
The smoker’s match, carelessly thrown away, has become a 
social nuisance, the great source of general conflagrations now¬ 
adays. One insurance company in London has lately reported 
that its losses by lucifer matches, alone, amount to not less 
than <£10,000 annually.”* 

Special notice should be taken of a hitherto unsuspected 
cause of fires in mills, first noticed by the eminent mill-engi¬ 
neer, Mr. James B. Francis, who describes, in a communication 
to the journal of the Franklin Institute, the circumstances of 
the ignition of pine timber in the Appleton Cotton Mills in 1864, 
through electrical sparks communicated from a rapidly moving 
leather belt. The belt was driven by a drum eleven feet in 
diameter, having iron arms and wooden lagging, making ninety- 
two revolutions, and transmitting a horse-power estimated at one 
hundred and seventy-five. The pulley driven by the belt was 
six feet in diameter, and entirely of iron. The peripheries of 
both drum and pulley were covered with leather. The belt w r as 
made of two thicknesses of leather cemented together, and 
about three-eighths of an inch thick. It had been slightly 
greased on the inside seven or eight weeks before the fire with a 
mixture of tallow and neat’s-foot oil. The part of the belt 
near the timber was the slack side, running nearly vertically, 
and at the nearest point was about eight inches from the timber. 
When it was first observed by Mr. Francis, a constant stream 
of sparks was passing between the belt and the corner of the 
timber which had been on fire. The charred timber indicated 
that about six inches of the corner had been on fire. 

The electrical excitement in the mill on the day of the fire 
had been unusually great, although electrical phenomena, fre¬ 
quently observed in cotton and woollen mills, usually attract but 
little attention. 

Mr. Francis observes that it is not unfrequent to find, on the 


Proceedings of Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, No. 22, p. 225. 



FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


29 


belt-boxes of a mill, an accumulation of flyings of cotton or 
wool covering every thing not in rapid motion, to a sensible 
depth. In this case the belt-box was very clean, to which fact 
he attributes the slow progress of the fire, and the detection of 
its cause. He also remarks " that by the light of the fire at the 
Appleton Mills, it appears probable that many other fires which 
were totally inexplicable at the time of their occurrence, may be 
attributed to this cause.” * 


SUGGESTIONS FROM PRACTICAL MANUFACTURERS. 

I cannot more appropriately conclude this branch of my sub¬ 
ject, — the causes of fires in woollen mills, — and fortify my posi¬ 
tions by practical confirmation, than by introducing the letters 
kindly addressed to me by some of our most experienced manu¬ 
facturers. 

The following from Mr. Peter Anderson, of Lowell, a practi¬ 
cal manufacturer of great experience, contains almost an ab¬ 
stract of the causes already indicated : — 

Lowell, June 18, 1869. 

John L. Hayes, Esq., Secretary, Boston, Mass. 

Dear Sir, — In response to your favor of 15th instant, I will 
state some of the causes of fires in woollen mills which have come 
within my own observation. I cannot state the particular mills in 
which they have occurred; but I know they are as follows : — 

From pieces of iron or steel getting into the picker. 

„ friction of journals from want of oil in the same. 

,, vegetable oils coming in contact with shavings, woollen 
yarns, and woollen substances. 

„ heating of webs fresh from the looms, being piled on top 
of each other for a few days before being scoured. 

,, waste heaped together before being cleansed through a 
duster or some other suitable machine. 

,, high pressure of steam through iron pipes coming in close 
contact with wood, as in wool-driers. 

,, wool coming in contact with overheated iron pipes. 

,, defective hot-air flues. 


* Journal of Franklin Institute, vol, 51, p. 342. 



30 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


From accumulated dirt and waste in corners and crevices in dirty 
woollen mills. 

,, want of care in the use of oil lamps, and lamps filled with 
fluid, and the innumerable substances for illuminating pur¬ 
poses. 

The foregoing are the principal causes of fire which I can remem¬ 
ber at this moment. 

I think your object is excellent; and that the diffusion of informa- 
mation upon this subject may prove of great practical benefit. 

Yours truly, 

P. Anderson, Ag't and Treas. Baldwin Company. 

The following, modestly signed "An Old Manufacturer,” I will 
venture to say, is from Mr. Theodore Pomeroy, a representative 
of the oldest wool-manufacturing house in the United States. 

Pittsfield, Mass., June 18, 1869. 

J. L. Hayes, Esq. 

Dear Sir, — To prevent fires in mills is surely a subject worthy 
of a place in our “ Bulletin.” Spontaneous combustion is one cause to 
which may be attributed many fires: to secure against this, as far as 
possible, the cards should be cleaned in the fore part of the day; the 
waste passed through the duster, and removed to an outside storehouse, 
properly labelled for use when needed. The debris should always be 
removed out of the mill before quitting time, as it is much more dan¬ 
gerous than when mixed with the wool, as it is largely composed of 
vegetable matter highly charged with animal oils ; again, it is for the 
manufacturer’s interest to clean his waste soon after it comes off and 
under the card, because if left to accumulate it becomes matted, and 
does not clean well. Another source of combustion is corners 
and byplaces, where waste and other rubbish may accumulate, partic¬ 
ularly dangerous if near a steam-pipe. The place for discharge of waste 
debris should be remote from the mill, and not in the vicinity of 
combustible material. I have known of several fires occurring, where 
painting was going on in mills (say of jacks, cards, or other machin¬ 
ery), where a painter had used turpentine or like material for wiping 
off machinery, say with cotton waste, which he has carelessly thrown 
down, and which, in contact with animal waste and oil, is most surely 
bound to get on fire ; and manufacturers should be more careful of 
such exposures. Again, all steam-pipes should be so hung that no 
wool, waste, or in fact any thing combustible, could come near them 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


31 


especially if not fully exposed to a current of air. Again, many 
mills have some bearings in some out-of-the-way place, where it is 
not certain a superintendent overlooks daily. This often is a hid¬ 
ing-place for rags or waste to clean up with; which, too often, when 
useless are carelessly thrown one side, ready for favorable circum¬ 
stances to breed fire. Again, where stoves are used stove-pipes are a 
source of combustion, through accumulation of soot, which is sure to 
take fire at an unseasonable hour. To sum it all up, “ Cleanliness is 
next to godliness,” and to guard against fires is simply to hate dirt 
and filth as you would or should hate sin. The above is to guard 
against spontaneous extinction. 

One great cause of fires is the careless construction of fireplaces, 
flues, and connections with the chimney or stack. This no manu¬ 
facturer should leave to any eyes but his own, if he wishes to sleep 
well. A little settle of some foundation or support is sure to open 
a fissure or crack for the enemy’s assault. Again, the picker is a 
source of danger. To guard against the evil of fire by friction, no 
day should be allowed to pass without a thorough overhauling to see 
that all wool should be taken off the arms and shaft of the picker 
where it comes in contact with the sides or any stationary part of the 
frame. Again, friction matches should be positively forbidden to be 
in possession of those who tend the picker, particularly if any cotton 
is used with the wool, for I have known several fires occur which it 
was too evident were caused by a match passing through the picker ; 
if mostly wool, a pail of water or sheets close at hand for immedi¬ 
ate use, will be a great preventive against conflagration. It is desira¬ 
ble where steam is used, that the picker room especially should have 
a steam-pipe so arranged that the room could instantaneously be 
filled with steam. A picker room should, as far as possible, be fire¬ 
proof, connecting with the mill by an iron door ; or two iron doors are 
better, having a space between each door. If the picker room is an 
upper story, there should be a double floor, with three inches of mor¬ 
tar between ; the sides should be of brick, and the ceiling covered 
with tin. An Old Manufacturer. 

Mr. George Roberts, of the Hartford Carpet Company, 
writes me as follows in reply to a communication requesting in¬ 
formation as to a fire before adverted to, and requesting some 
suggestions founded upon his great practical experience : — 


32 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


Hartford Carpet Company, 

Hartford, Conn., June 21,1869. 

J. L. Hayes, Esq. 

Dear Sir, — Yours of the 18th instant is received. The report of 
the insurance company relative to the origin and spread of our fire 
at Tariffville is substantially correct. The roofs were not all of tin, 
part were slated ; experience has shown that the latter is no better 
protection than the former, if as good. I prefer the former, as it will 
control the fire longer in breaking through the roof than the latter. 
The picker, in which the fire originated, was in the basement of a 
spinning mill, and had been used in the same place for many years, 
and had never before caught fire. What caused it at this time is un¬ 
known ; but it is next to certain that matches or some hard substance 
passed through it with the wool and ignited the wool. At the early 
introduction of machinery, it was rarely that fire originated in pick¬ 
ing, for the reason that the Scotch picker, or wool-opener, as it was 
then called, was pretty generally in use. Subsequently, pickers have 
been introduced with an increased number of teeth, and made of steel 
in place of iron, and the speed has been largely increased. Indeed, 
there is now a class of pickers called hard waste, or rag pickers, that 
are used for picking worsted and yarn ends, and which are set very 
close, and run at great velocity, and are pretty sure to strike fire if 
matches, iron, or other hard substance, by accident get into the mate¬ 
rial and go through with it. We have had both matches and pieces 
of iron set our pickers on fire, and have removed all of them from 
our mills, and placed them in detached fire-proof buildings, to avoid 
the danger, which has much increased since the introduction of that use¬ 
ful but dangerous invention of matches (and which, by the way, were 
invented in the block in which I am now writing). Smoking has be¬ 
come so general, and the carrying of matches in the pockets so com¬ 
mon, and the careless throwing them about accounts to a great extent 
for their being frequently found in wool and cotton; and we have had 
one fire in a picker that was positively traced to a card of matches 
passing through with the wool. On another occasion a workman was 
set on fire by having matches loose in his pocket. To my mind, the 
foregoing are the principal causes for increased fires in pickers. It is 
true that iron shutters are not as good a protection as a wooden shut¬ 
ter lined on both sides. The heat seldom reaches a window uniform¬ 
ly over all its surface at once. Consequently, an iron shutter heated 
at one end or side causes it to warp and open cracks, and let the blaze 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


33 


through. The wood shutter covered with tin on both sides will not 
warp, but resists the fire until the wood slowly consumes, — it being 
confined between the tin,—and hence will resist the fire longer than 
the iron shutters. In building our new mills, we have avoided all 
wood cornices and wood exposures externally that we could; we 
have also avoided all carvings and furrings, so that there should be 
no places for the fire to extend unobserved, or to which we could 
not get water if we could get into the building. The insurance 
companies have appreciated the improvements by the lower rates of 
premium charged. The foregoing are my hasty ideas, which you can 
put in form for your use if you concur with me in the view I have 
taken of the subject. Yours truly, 

George Roberts. 


MEANS OF PREVENTION. 

The subject of prevention of fires in mills, being so inti¬ 
mately connected with that of the causes of fires, has already 
been incidentally discussed. There is an equal difficulty in 
classifying separately the means of prevention and extinction. 

The primary means of prevention is a suitable system of con¬ 
struction ; although the improper construction of buildings 
more generally assists the spread than constitutes the original 
cause of fires. This branch of my subject — which properly 
comes within the province of a professional engineer — I should 
not presume to discuss, if the brief views which I shall present 
were not exclusively founded upon the authority of practical 
experts, engineers, and inspectors of insurance, whom I have 
consulted. In relation to the means of prevention by construc¬ 
tion, the first and simplest rule to be laid down is, that the 
party building or refitting a mill should first consult the insur¬ 
ance company where he desires to insure, especially if the 
company is based upon the mutual or preventive plan. The 
suggestions which he will receive, from their enlightened expe¬ 
rience, will enable him to effect a great saving in actual con¬ 
struction ; and will prevent the alterations which will be sure to 
be required if he builds and refits, guided only by his own expe¬ 
rience or that of even the most accomplished architects. The 
science of fire-prevention is a special department of civil-engi- 


34 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


neering, which is thoroughly understood only by those who have 
gained severe experience by actual payment of losses. 

The second rule is for the owner, whenever the situation of 
his mill-property makes it practicable, to insure in one of the 
mutual manufacturing insurance companies which adopt the 
preventive system. Seven companies founded upon this system, 
and acting upon the same general principles, exist in New Eng¬ 
land,— four in Providence, two in Boston, and one in Wor¬ 
cester. Their foundation was the result of the experience of 
the old stock-companies insuring manufacturing property, which 
had insured without personal inspection, and without due pre¬ 
cautions, upon second and third as well as upon first class risks ; 
the good risks, under this system, in fact paying for the poor 
ones, and the rates of premiums upon the best risks being 
necessarily unduly high. The experience in one of the largest 
companies, doing business upon this system for forty years, I 
am assured, is that the profit of insuring factory property for 
forty years was only one per cent upon the capital of the com¬ 
pany, without charging expenses ; and that, if expenses had 
been charged, there would have been an actual loss. Under 
this system, the average rate of insurance for cotton mills was 
2|- per cent. The results of a leading office in Providence, 
founded upon the mutual and preventive system, show that the 
actual cost of insurance for the same mills, for thirty-one years, 
was 47 A- hundredths of one per cent. The principle of the latter 
system of insurance is, the taking of risks only upon first-class 
mills, the ascertaining of the precise character of the risk by 
previous personal examination of the mill, and the prevention 
of danger and loss by frequent and regular inspection of the 
property insured. The system is but one form of the principle 
of social science which the world has just begun to discover, 
— that the most effectual means of contending with disease, 
crime, and pauperism, is to prevent the causes, and arrest the 
evil in its incipient stages. 

Although the most authoritative sources for minute infor¬ 
mation as to actual construction are indicated as above, we may 
briefly refer to some of the most indispensable conditions of 
safety and prevention. 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


35 


The mill structure should be either of brick or stone. If 
of the latter, the plaster to be laid solid upon the walls. If of 
bricks, they should be laid with the face on the inside as well as 
the outside, so that a coat of paint may complete the finish 
of the room ; thus rendering the inside wall incombustible. The 
floors should be of plank; and it is desirable to have mortar or 
concrete laid between the planking and top-flooring. It is im¬ 
portant that the floor should be water-tight, to admit of its being 
flooded in case of necessity. For this reason, it is desirable not 
to have belt-holes in the main floor of the mill, — at all events, 
there should be casing around the belt-holes. Mr. Braidwood 
speaks emphatically of the safety secured by a floor ” composed 
simply of plank two and a half or three inches thick, so closely 
joined, and so nicely fitted to the walls, as to be completely air¬ 
tight ; its thickness and its property of being air-tight being its 
only causes of safety.” In relation to supporting the floors, it 
should be observed that engineers, especially in England, have 
an increasing distrust of iron columns, particularly those of cast- 
iron ; as it is shown, by the experiments of Mr. Fairbairn on 
cast-iron in a heated state, that it is liable to give way when 
subjected to a temperature far below that of the fusing point. 
For this reason, London firemen are not permitted to go into 
warehouses supported by iron, when once fairly on fire.* The 
roof should be of plank. The best forms are the ordinary flat 
gravelled roof, or a plank roof covered with shingles laid in mor¬ 
tar. Both of these roofs are tight; preventing the passage of 
drafts of air through the roof, which assist combustion, while the 
materials are non-conductors of heat. Slate roofs are objection¬ 
able, as they admit air, and the passage of flame from the in¬ 
side. A flat roof is desirable, as it precludes an attic, — a fertile 
source of danger, because liable to be neglected or overlooked. 
Next to a flat roof, a French roof is unobjectionable, because 
the main part of the roof is flat. If a French roof is adopted, 
the stone or brick walls should be carried up fully to the plank¬ 
ing of the roof. No mills should be more than four stories 


* Braidwood, Fire Prevention, &c., p. 48. 



36 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


high: it is better that they should be less. It is better that 
they should not be more than two hundred feet in length. Mills 
of one story are better for security against the spread of fire, 
than any others. They should be constructed with solid par¬ 
tition walls, running at least three feet above the walls. The 
omission of this security, has been known to be fatal to a wool¬ 
len mill in Khode Island, constructed with all other precautions. 
No hollow wooden cornice should be allowed on the outside 
of a building. A bracket cornice, which is safe, is equally 
ornamental. In finishing mill buildings, no cavity large enough 
to harbor a rat should be allowed ; as these vermin may other¬ 
wise secrete oily waste, from which there is always danger. 
The picker, as before said, should be always detached from 
the mill. In locating picker and boiler houses, it is important 
that they should be placed to the leeward of the main build¬ 
ings ; and it should be borne in mind, that, in New England 
at least, the winds have a westerly tendency the larger portion 
of the time. 

Every mill should have an entrance-tower, to accommodate 
hoisting-apparatus and stairways, obviating open apertures for 
the admission of air. 

As a supplement to these brief hints upon construction, I 
subjoin the following so-styled "National Standard,” adopted 
by the Association of American Stock Companies, June 12, 
1867, for strictly first-class woollen and cotton mills; the rate 
of insurance upon the former being fixed by this standard at 
1.25 per cent, and upon the latter at one per cent: — 

NATIONAL STANDARD. 

No External Exposure. Add in proportion to increase of hazard. 

Power — Water, or steam generated outside of mill. Steam generated in 
mill, add 20 c. and upwards. 

Height — Not to exceed four stories. Each additional story, add 10 c. 

Length —Not to exceed two hundred feet, unless divided by substantial fire¬ 
walls. Each additional hundred feet, or fraction thereof, add 5 c. 

Walls —Of brick or stone, heavy and substantial, not furred off. If furred 
off, add 10 c. Frame, 35 c. No charge for roof, gutters, or cornices on frame- 
mill. 

Hoof — Of matched or grooved planking, covered with slate, tin, gravel, or 
shingles laid on mortar, — the latter preferred. Roof not to be ceiled. Ordinary 
shingle roof, add 10 c. 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


37 


Gutters and Cornices — Of stone or metal. Wood, boxed, add 5 c. 

Scuttle — One or more in roof, with stairs leading to it. None, add 5 c. 

Ladders Permanent ladders on the sides or ends of mill, and platforms 
with railings to each story, and supply of movable ladders near at hand. None, 
add 20 c. Movable ladders only, add 15 c. Movable and permanent ladders 
and no platforms, add 10 c. 

Lightning-rods — Of approved construction. None, add 5 c. 

Floors — Of heavy plank, covered with thick boarding; if light, flooring to 
be laid in mortar. The band-holes to be boxed, and sills of doors laid high, so 
that the floors may be flooded one inch deep. Ordinary or not arranged for 
flooding, add 10 c. 

Stairways — To be in porch. Inside, add 10 c. 

Elevator — If any, to be located in porch, or outside of main walls, cased in 
brick, with iron doors at each story in case it opens into the mill. Inside or 
wood cased, add 10 c. 

Machine Shop —For repairs of mill only. Inside, add 10 c. 

Heating — Entirely by steam; pipes not to be in contact with wood (space 
should be at least one inch); boilers outside of mill. If warmed by coal-stoves, 
add 15 c.; by wood-stoves, add 30 c.; pipes and stoves securely arranged. 

Lighting — By gas, made of coal or resin, generated at a safe distance from 
the mill. Lights not allowed in picker room, except in walls of building, pro¬ 
tected by glass, and to be lighted from outside. If lighted with kerosene oil 
bearing the test of 112°, and hung on wire (lamps filled in the morning), add 
15c.; lighted with gas made from naphtha, or other like material, uninsurable. 

Watch —A constant watch and watch-clock. No watchman, add 30 c.; if 
watchman and no clock, add 10 c.; partial watch, add 20 c. 

Picker — In a brick or stone building, not less than ten feet from mill, and 
not connected therewith by a covered passage-way; not over two stories high ; 
blank wall (doors excepted) next the mill, rising two feet above the roof; roof 
covered with slate, metal, or gravel; iron doors to mill or picker building. If 
in fire-proof room in mill or adjoining and communicating building, provided 
with sprinkler or steam, add 25 c.; not thus secured, add 50 c. (If hard end or 
waste picker is used, add 25 c. or more, in addition to above.) 

Drying — By steam-pipes in the mill, inadmissible for a first-class mill. By 
patent steam-driers in or near the mill, not insurable. The atmospheric drier, or 
some equally safe arrangement, only permissible. Add in proportion to increase 
of hazard. 

Waste — Removed daily, and kept at least fifty feet from mill. Otherwise, 
not insurable. 

Oils — Only pure sperm, pure olive, pressed or saponified lard oils, permitted 
to be used on wool. If distilled lard or manufactured oils are used, add 30 c. 
and upwards. 


MEANS OF EXTINCTION. 

Until quite recently modern civilization could boast of but 
little advance beyond that of the ancients, in the systems of fire 
extinction. When ancient Rome was rebuilt, every citizen was 


38 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


required to keep in his house a, machine for extinguishing fires. 
Nearly two thousand years ago Ctesibius, of Alexandria, invent¬ 
ed a machine which had all the essential features of the modern 
manual fire-engine. This country and the present generation 
have given the world the steam fire-engine, and the discovery first 
announced in the scientific academies of France, that water direct¬ 
ed upon a fire in its early stages, or when burning over an ex¬ 
tended surface, is more effective in the form of spray ; and that a 
small quantity of water so applied suffices to extinguish a very 
large burning surface, lias received its most extended and practical 
application in the general adoption of " sprinklers ” in our best 
mills. 

Since the adoption of the mutual insurance system at Lowell, 
with the frequent inspections of apparatus for extinguishing fires 
which make a part of that system, great interest has been felt 
in that important manufacturing centre, in perfecting the appara¬ 
tus for extinguishing fires ; and no expense has been spared in 
accomplishing this end. Mr. James B. Francis has communi¬ 
cated to the "Journal of the Franklin Institute,” of April, 1865, 
a paper "On the means adopted at Lowell, Mass., for extin¬ 
guishing fires.” The publication of this paper by so eminent 
an engineer makes it unnecessary to resort to any other source 
for information as to the most approved fixed apparatus for 
applying water to resist conflagrations in mills. 

According to Mr. Francis, all the cotton mills erected in 
Lowell, previous to.1828, were provided only with force-pumps 
supplying a cistern in the roof, and a hydrant in each story. 
There were no hydrants outside of the building. The burning 
of a mill, in 1828, showed the inefficiency of this system. The 
plan was then adopted of laying an eight-inch main pipe through 
each mill-yard, about forty feet in front of the mills, the pipe 
being furnished with hydrants, and connected with the force- 
pumps and roof cisterns of each mill, so that all the apparatus 
on the premises could be brought to bear upon one mill. When 
the force-pumps were not in operation, the supply and pressure 
of water in the mains depended entirely on the cisterns ; but by 
means of a peculiar system of valves at the .cisterns, a pressure 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


39 


equal to a head of one hundred and fifty feet could be main¬ 
tained in the main pipes, when the force-pumps were in opera¬ 
tion. 

In 1849, a reservoir was constructed on an elevation about 
a mile from the nearest mill, and connected with the main pipes 
in the mill-yards. The reservoir contains about two millions of 
gallons ; the supply being maintained by means of force-pumps, 
erected for the purpose, driven by water-power. 

The present general arrangement of the fire-extinguishing 
apparatus is thus described : — 

In each mill-yard there are several sets of force-pumps, driven by 
water-power ; these are kept ready for immediate use; the water 
thrown by them is discharged directly into the eight-inch main pipe, 
and any excess of water not drawn from the main, passes up to the 
reservoir. 

Each mill-yard is supplied with numerous hydrants, on an average 
one to about every fifty feet in length of the main pipe at the front of 
the mills, and nearly as many at the rear ; about one-third of these 
hydrants have one hundred feet of hose, and a hose-pipe constantly 
attached; these are protected from the weather by small buildings, in 
which the hose is hung ready for instant use. Supplies of hose are 
kept at hand for use at the other hydrants, and ladders with plat¬ 
forms at each story are fixed at several places on the sides and 
ends of the buildings ; these serve for fire escapes for the operatives, 
as well as for purposes connected with extinguishing fire. 

Lines of pipes, about four inches in diameter, are carried from the 
mains into the mills, passing up to the top and having a hydrant at 
each story, with hose and pipe constantly attached. 

As a rule, there is such a line at each stairway, the pipe and hy¬ 
drant being placed inside the rooms, as near as practicable to the head 
of the stairs. This situation is preferred, as it enables the operators of 
the apparatus to remain longer at their posts, and with more sense 
of security, than they could do at points from which escape would be 
less easy and certain. The mills built previously to 1845, were gen¬ 
erally about one hundred and fifty-six feet long, forty-five feet wide, 
and four stories high, besides basement and attic ; these mills have 
usually one stairway placed in a projection or porch in the middle of 
the front. Mills of later construction are generally larger, and have 
two or more stairways, and a corresponding number of lines of pipes 


40 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


and hydrants. These pipes are constantly filled with water under 
high pressure, and the hydrants are kept ready for instant use. 

The use of sprinklers is so imperatively insisted upon at 
present by experts in fire prevention, that I feel warranted in 
quoting at length from Mr. Francis upon this subject: — 

Sprinklers, within a few years, have been extensively introduced 
into the Lowell mills, and in connection with the system of reservoir 
and mains, are considered the most effective means known for extin¬ 
guishing fire. In some of the departments of a cotton mill, fire spreads 
over a whole room with such rapidity that hydrants, or other ordinary 
means, seem to be wholly inadequate to extinguish it. In such a case, a 
suitable sprinkler appears to afford the greatest protection practicable. 

As constructed at Lowell, a sprinkler consists of a net-work of pipes 
perforated with small holes, so arranged and directed that when a valve 
connecting the sprinkler with the main pipes is opened, the water will 
flow into all parts of the system of pipes, and escape at the perforations 
with sufficient force to wet thoroughly and in a very short time every 
part of the room it is designed to protect. The idea is not new or pe¬ 
culiar to Lowell, but perhaps it has been more extensively and sys¬ 
tematically adopted there than elsewhere. It was first introduced at 
Lowell, in the year 1845, into the picking room of the Suffolk Manu¬ 
facturing Company, by Mr. John Wright, the agent of that company. 

As is well known, this department of a cotton mill is peculiarly lia¬ 
ble to fire from the action of the machinery on the cotton, and par¬ 
ticularly on the foreign substances which are often found mixed 
with it. 

After the construction of the reservoir, the advantages of the sprink¬ 
lers, when used in connection with it, were so obvious, that they were 
soon introduced into the picking departments of all the cotton mills in 
Lowell. In 1852 and 1853, sprinklers were put into the roofs of the 
mills. In one of the old mills, which have slated roofs, the plan adopt¬ 
ed was to carry a six-inch pipe from the main in the mill-yard up 
near the middle of the mill to the level of the perforated pipe, which 
was placed a few feet below the ridge-pole, and extended the whole 
length of the mill in a single line, gradually diminishing in size from 
five inches iirdiameter near the middle, to three inches at the ends. This 
pipe was perforated with two holes three-sixteenths inch in diameter, 
in each foot in length. These holes point in different directions, so as 
to wet, as far as practicable, all parts of the roof. The water, after 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


41 


striking the roof, falls ; and a large portion of it finds its way into the 
stories below. The valve connecting the sprinkler with the main pipe 
is placed in or near the ground, usually in a pit in the ground, near the 
mill so as to be always readily accessible, and, the water being con¬ 
stantly maintained in the main pipe at a high pressure, the sprinkler 
can be put in operation with very little delay. 

The roof-sprinkler is deemed a very great security against heavy 
losses by fire, as it affords the means of applying a large volume of 
water at the top of the mill, where, from the elevation, it would other¬ 
wise be difficult to apply it. This apparatus is expected to discharge 
about four hundred gallons of water per minute, and is intended to be 
used only for a few minutes at a time, unless the fire is confined to the 
roof. Its efficient action requires that most of the hydrants should be 
shut off.- 

Between the years 1853 and 1859, sprinklers had been introduced 
into many of the carding and spinning rooms of the cotton mills, which 
rooms are particularly liable to the rapid spread of fire. In the year 
1859, sprinklers were required to be put into all such rooms, as well 
as into all picking rooms, and all other buildings and rooms liable to 
the rapid spread of fire or of difficult access. 

It has been found by experiment that about four hundred and fifty 
gallons per minute is the largest quantity of water which can be drawn 
from the main pipes in some of the mill-yards, from the reservoir alone, 
and maintain an effective working pressure. If a large fire should oc¬ 
cur at a time when the canals are drawn off, as they often are during 
the night and on holidays to enable repairs to be made, the force-pumps 
could not be operated, and the supply of water would b6 limited to that 
which could be drawn from the reservoir. By operating one section at 
a time, the sprinklers can be effectively used in such an event; but in 
a large fire, the supply of water would be much too small for the effi¬ 
cient action of all the apparatus provided. The remedy is a larger 
main pipe, an improvement we are looking forward to, in order to per¬ 
fect the system. 

As an illustration of the arrangement of sprinklers adopted at 
Lowell, the following description is given of the apparatus in the Tre- 
mont Mill, which was erected in the year 1863. 

The building is about four hundred and forty feet long, and seventy 
feet wide inside ; with five full stories, and a roof nearly flat. The 
floors are of wood, supported by two rows of pillars. The beams are 
about sixteen inches deep, placed about eight feet apart. The floors 
are made of three-inch planks, laid directly on the beams, with a board- 

6 


42 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


ing above, and another below, between the beams, forming the ceiling. 
The three upper stories are furnished with sprinklers, arranged in 
three sections in each story. Each section is supplied by a rising main 
pipe of cast-iron, six inches in diameter, connecting with the eight-inch 
main pipe in the mill-yard, and furnished with a stop-gate, placed in a 
pit in the ground, deep enough to be completely protected from frost. 
The handle of the stop-gate is constantly attached to the gate, and ex¬ 
tends above the level of the ground, so as to be readily accessible at all 
times. The rising main pipe is carried up outside of the mill-wall, 
and between the windows, in order to be out of the way of heat, when 
not filled with water, in case of fire in the mill. Near the level of the 
perforated pipes in the third and fourth stories, the rising mains are 
carried through the wall, and connect on the inside with the horizontal 
mains, which lie just below the floor-beams, and close to the wall of 
the mill, and extend each way as far as the section of sprinkler ex¬ 
tends, or about seventy feet. The horizontal mains diminish in size as 
they recede from the rising main. At intervals of about eight feet, 
corresponding to the bays of the mill, lines of perforated wrought-iron 
pipes branch off from the horizontal main, first upwards by short ver¬ 
tical pipes, equal in length to the depth of the beams, in order to reach 
the level of the ceiling between the beams; thence across the whole 
width of the mill, in the middle of each bay, the pipe being in contact 
with the boards forming the ceiling of the room. The diameters of the 
perforated pipes diminish as they recede from the horizontal main, 
being one and a half inches in diameter at the origin and three-fourths 
of an inch in diameter at the other extremity. The perforations are 
one-tenth of an inch in diameter, eighteen inches apart on each side of 
the pipe, making about ninety-two perforations in each line. These 
holes point a little above the horizontal, so that the jet of water will 
strike the ceiling a few inches from the pipe. The water, issuing with 
considerable force, will follow along the ceiling, falling in drops at 
short intervals, a portion of it reaching the beams, which are about 
three and a half feet distant, on each side of the perforated pipes. 

In the upper story, the ceiling rises in the middle, corresponding to 
the pitch of the roof; the horizontal main is placed in the middle of 
the room, with the small pipes branching out on each side, and per¬ 
forated the same as in the stories below. 

The whole length of perforated pipe in the three stories of the mill 
is a little more than two miles, each section having about 1,260 feet, 
containing about 1,650 orifices. In one section, the total area of the 
orifices for the distribution of the water is about thirteen square 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


43 


inches; the sectional area of the rising main is about twenty-eight 
square inches; the proportion of sectional area in the rising main to 
the sum of the areas of all the orifices of distribution, being a little 
greater than two to one. In proportioning the diameters of the pipes 
throughout the .whole system, substantially the same proportion is ob¬ 
served ; thus, in the lines of perforated pipes across the mill, the sum 
of the areas of all the orifices of distribution is about 723 square 
inches ; the sectional area of the pipe at its origin is 1,767 square inches, 
which is rather more than double the sum of the areas of the orifices 
of distribution. If the pipe at its origin had a diameter of 1,357 inches, 
its area would have just been double that of the sum of the orifices, but 
this is a size not usually manufactured. Of course, there is no objec¬ 
tion to the use of a pipe somewhat larger than the rule requires. 

The pipes and perforations in each section of the sprinkler are de¬ 
signed to discharge about four hundred and fifty gallons of water per 
minute, which is about all that can be drawn from the main pipes in 
the mill-yards from the reservoir alone, and maintain a sufficient work¬ 
ing pressure; and of course, only one section at a time can be effi¬ 
ciently operated, unless the force-pumps in that mill, or in some of the 
neighboring mills, are in operation. 

The area of floor covered by one section of the sprinkler is about 
10,300 square feet. The water discharged in one minute would cover 
this area to the depth of about 1 T ! ¥ of an inch, which is at the rate of 
inches per hour. The fall of water in a thunder shower is some¬ 
times as great as this, but in this latitude it is very rare. There has 
been no opportunity as yet to test the effect of any of the larger 
sprinklers, like that just described, in extinguishing a fire; many of 
the smaller sprinklers in the picking rooms have, however, been used; 
and their operation has been in the highest degree satisfactory. There 
have been several opportunities for testing the larger sprinklers when 
there has been no fire; in every case, where the proportion between 
the sectional area of the pipes, and the area of the orifices of distribu¬ 
tion which they supply, has been not less than two to one, the opera-, 
tion has been satisfactory; and in cases where sprinklers are in the 
lower stories, with short and well-arranged supply-pipes, they have 
operated satisfactorily, with a proportion between supply-pipes and 
orifices of four to three. The proportion of two to one is, however, 
preferred. At Lowell, the surface of the water in the reservoir is' 
about one hundred feet above the top of the highest mill in the city. 
In order that sprinklers should operate with equal efficiency, with a 
less elevated reservoir, the proportion between the sectional areas of 


44 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


the supply-pipes and the orifices of distribution should be proportion¬ 
ally greater. In cases where the reservoir is but little above the level 
of the top of the building, a proportion as large as four or six to one 
may be necessary. 

? 

I add the following from the " National Standard,” before re¬ 
ferred to : — 

PROVISION FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE. 

Rumps — One or more force-pumps of approved make and of adequate power, 
and with sufficient hose to reach all parts of the mill. To be geared so as to be put 
in operation outside of the mill. It is suggested that when the mill is stopped at 
night, the pump should be thrown into gear. Without force-pump, but well sup¬ 
plied with casks of water and firepails, add 35 c. 

Pipes — To have a vertical pipe extending from basement to attic, in the 
porch or outside, with hydrants at each loft, and hose attached. None, add 10 c. 

Tank — To have a tank of water in attic, with pipe descending to basement, 
and hose attached at each story, always ready for instantaneous use. None, add 
5 c. 

Sprinklers — A sprinkler in picker room, with such length of pipe and sup¬ 
ply and head of water as to be efficient. It is desirable that the card room also, 
be provided with sprinklers. The sprinklers must be so arranged as to be put in 
operation from the outside. None, add 5 c. 

Casks and Pails — One or more casks of water at each story, with four or 
more firepails to each cask. Also pails of water distributed over the card and spin¬ 
ning rooms, ready for any emergency. None, add 25 c.; partial supply, add 10 c. 
and upwards. 

Steam — Steam-pipes arranged so that steam can be instantly introduced into 
any room, especially the picker and card rooms ; and valves, so that it may be intro¬ 
duced from outside. No steam arrangements, add 10 c.; partial, add 5 c. 

Organization — A fire company of a suitable number to be organized from 
the employes in mill, and kept well drilled in duties devolving on them in case 
of fire. No organization, add 10 c. and upwards. 

We must not overlook the necessity of providing the simpler 
and more unexpensive means of extinguishing fires at the criti¬ 
cal period of the first ignition. 

Obvious as the suggestion is, Mr. Braid wood’s prime rule 
must be always borne in mind. "On the first discovery of a 
4 fire, it is of the utmost consequence to shut, and keep shut, all 
doors, windows, or other openings. It may be often observed 
after a house has been on fire, that one floor is comparatively 
untouched, while those above and below are nearly burned out. 
This arises from the door on that particular floor having been 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


45 


shut, and the draft directed elsewhere.” I am reliably informed 
that the disastrous fire at Salmon Falls resulted from the omis¬ 
sion of this precaution. 

Mr. Charles B. King, C.E., in a paper upon suppression and 
extinction of fires, read before the London Society of Arts in 
1863, says, "From the great apparent difficulty of successfully 
dealing with large fires, it is manifest that those plans will be 
most advantageous which can be applied at the commencement 
of a fire; and for this purpose the ordinary hand-pump cannot 
be surpassed. The great success which has attended its use, both 
by firemen and civilians, is in many well authenticated cases 
truly marvellous ; many fires which upon their first discovery 
might have been covered with a hat, for want of such an appara¬ 
tus as a hand-pump and a bucket of water, have grown into ex¬ 
tensive conflagrations.” In the discussion which followed the 
reading of Mr. King’s paper, the experienced Mr. Badderley 
said, " In its early stages, fire, in most cases, is quite manage¬ 
able ; and that is the time when it can be dealt with, with the 
greatest chances of success. Of all the modern inventions for 
fire-extinguishing purposes, nothing, in mg opinion, is so real¬ 
ly useful as the little hand-pump. Many years of controversy 
ensued before the late Mr. Braidwood could be brought to regard 
the hand-pump with favor. The result of the experiments with 
the little hand-engines was so satisfactory that every fire-engine 
in London travels with one; and they have been the means, in 
the hands both of firemen and civilians, of saving thousands of 
pounds’ worth of property.” * 

That the modern fire-annihilator, one of the most effectual 
and unexpensive means of resisting fire in its early stages, does 
not meet with the favor which it deserves, is due, as admitted 
by Mr. Barnum, in his " Memoirs,” to the humbug which attended 
its first introduction. Having had occasion recently to inves¬ 
tigate, professionally, in a question of interference, all the recent 
patented inventions, I have become convinced of the advantages 
to be derived from the use of a good machine of this class. All 


* Journal of Society of Arts, March 20,1863. 



46 


FIRES IN WOOLLEN MILLS. 


the recent fire-annihilators or extinguishers, of which many have 
been patented, are really hardly any thing more than portable 
soda-fountains, provided with means for impregnating the water 
which they contain with carbonic acid ; the water together with 
the gas being ejected as in an uncorked soda-bottle, by the 
force of the expanding gas, through a flexible pipe : the dis¬ 
tinct features in the different machines consisting mainly in the 
means by which the carbonic acid gas is generated. When the 
machine is put in operation, the carbonic acid gas escapes mixed 
with the spray of water, forming an atmosphere which effectu¬ 
ally extinguishes flame. The efficiency of this application is es¬ 
tablished by chemical principles, and by abundant testimony as 
to successful trials. Although it would be invidious to recom¬ 
mend a particular machine, my own preference would be for 
those where the union of the alkali and acid, generating the gas, 
is made by simply turning the machine end for end, as in revers¬ 
ing an hour-glass. The fire-department of Boston have recently 
recognized the usefulness of these machines, by providing forty 
of different constructions for their engine-houses. Although the 
mutual-insurance companies have as yet withheld any public 
recommendation of the use of fire-annihilators in mills, I am as¬ 
sured that they regard them as desirable additions to other means 
of extinction. 

Notwithstanding the number of pages which I have occupied, 
the subject is far from exhausted. This paper will Have served 
its object if it merely arrests attention to one of the indispensa¬ 
ble conditions of manufacturing success. I should not regret it, 
even, if its deficiencies and errors should provoke others, better 
informed, to shed a clearer light upon the conditions of safety 
from conflagration in our mills. For this purpose, as indeed, 
for all corrections of error, the pages of the " Bulletin ” will 
be always open. 




















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